Introduction to Practical Charlotte
Mason
Nearly twenty years ago I met my first home schooling parent. We were introduced
in a parking lot to one another. I was a working mother of two she was
the home schooling parent of five children. I was positively dumbstruck
by the lifestyle she had chosen and I am fairly certain my attitude and
facial expressions showed it. No, I was not hostile toward her choice but
I was bewildered. Stupidly, I asked her a series of questions which she
answered graciously and confidently. She provided me with the opportunity
to see for myself that people, real people, were taking on this responsibility.
Up until that point I had only heard of home schooling through the media
and it had remained a mere concept in my mind. She put a face to what was
then only recently legalized in my State. What the two of us did not know
that day was how drastically both of our lives were to change and how quickly
those changes were coming.
Within a year I had a complete conversion from working mother with one
child in public school and one in diapers to the very different life that
is home schooling. The brief meeting in the parking lot in no way prepared
me for the task and I never had another opportunity to talk with the woman
I met there. No, I was on my own and I was at a loss right from the beginning.
Phone calls were placed to my State Authorities, pamphlets and catalogs
were delivered and I had begun the process of research.
Soon after I attended an extremely large Home School Convention and I will
admit to the overwhelming emotions I experienced and fought against there
amid the curtained booths. I will further admit that I withdrew from the
crowd and cried. Under normal circumstances I view myself as capable and
confident but it was clear to me that I had no idea what I was going to
teach or how I was going to cover any of the basics in education. My exact
problem was this. There were too many choices, approaches, methods and
merchandise offered. Ultimately I made my choice and could hardly carry
the materials back to my car. I was ready for my first year of home schooling,
or so I thought.
Burnout hit me like a runaway logging truck that first year. Yes, I said
first year. Having barely endured it I enrolled my children in the closest
public school the following summer and sat back waiting for September.
Just before the leaves started falling off the trees and the yellow buses
began showing up in the neighborhoods I had a sudden change of heart. I
could not do it. I had thought I had made the correct choice but evidently
the enrollment was a mistake. I cancelled that at the last minute and began
home school year number two.
Of course I asked myself what had gone so horribly wrong that first year
that I had wanted to quit. For me the answer was clear. It was the materials
themselves that I had chosen. They were dry and boring. They did not inspire,
they were incapable of that. Soon I learned about a completely different
goal that came along with a multifaceted approach created by Charlotte
Mason. She represented something new and foreign but it got my attention.
In her writings she spoke of the love of learning. She insisted that it
was the very key to education. She went further than that however. Mason
claimed that the love of learning was in my hands and was in fact my responsibility.
But who was she and more importantly did she know what she was talking
about or not? I was very skeptical and wary having spent an entire school
year covered in the dry dust of boredom.
Charlotte Mason, who she was and who she was not are both important topics
to me. Because she was born in the 1880s and wrote prolifically in her
native country of England many have come to think of her as a lace covered
Victorian drinking tea by firelight in her parlor. Tea may have been her
beverage of choice but that neither concerns me nor intrigues me in any
way. In my second book I previously had this to say.
“I keep a quite different impression in my mind. I imagine a sturdy pair
of muddied boots with some otherwise sensible clothing to equip her for
the field. Her frequent walks across the English countryside in all kinds
of weather are well documented. I’m sure she was every bit as feminine
as the next lady but I can visualize her casting off the bits of lace and
other unnecessary fluff when it was time to head outdoors. My imaginings
were somewhat proven true by this description of Charlotte’s college, ‘The
actual surroundings, the books, the pictures, the simple furniture and
wild flowers for decorations were a revelation in themselves in those days
when the world lived in a crowd of ancestral treasures or the unutterable
hideousness of the Victorian age.’ (Charlotte Mason College, p. 17) Personally,
I love antique furniture, books and houses but the fact that Charlotte
lived and wrote in another time is not the sole reason I’m interested in
her teachings.” From More Charlotte Mason Education.
Rather than concentrating on what era she lived in I, instead, looked hard
and long at what she was teaching parents and educators. I researched for
the practical and the realistic applications that would benefit me and
I found her to be ahead of her time or maybe better yet her concepts about
children and education were themselves timeless. They were true regardless
of the century in which any given family lives.
With the love of learning firmly planted as my foremost educational goal
I tackled the second school year with mostly new and far more interesting
materials. That in itself helped to a large extent but I had much to learn.
Mason’s methodology contained hundreds of ideas and techniques and a mountain
as huge as this cannot be understood and applied overnight. Due to my fear
of the unknown and my natural tendency toward skepticism I held on to many
standard practices used in teaching such as the common text book method.
I used those and some other “school at home” concepts side by side with
Mason’s. Slowly and carefully I tried one technique at a time. With my
house quickly filling with Charlotte Mason’s original articles and books
I was able to read thoroughly on a topic and turn right around and try
them on my guinea pigs, I mean my children. When I found one tip or practice
after another working better than I could ever imagine I was the very happy
mother of very happy children. My personal escape from early burnout and
my apparent contentment was noticed by people in my community and soon
I was making public appearances and writing books. I set a standard for
myself at the onset when I approached the task of helping others. I only
write about home schooling tactics and solutions that I have actually tried
and found success with. And as a firm believer in individuality I have
never pushed an all Charlotte Mason Method for anybody at any time. Instead
I highly recommend taking the techniques provided and morphing them to
your heart’s content. I know from personal experience that the practical
aspects of this method are adaptable and are easily applied to any other
style of educating whether structured or unstructured. It also does not
matter how many tips and tactics you implement—applying one or two at a
time to whatever approach you already use is ideal and it will not feel
like a drastic alteration.
That brings us to my foremost goal with these articles. I strive to write
about realistic home schooling, that is what I have lived and I am certain
it is what you are living too. Parenting itself can be frustrating at times
and so can teaching your own children. I prefer to acknowledge that for
both you and myself. Accepting that you have limitations is realistic and
it reminds me of how a person who has suffered the amputation of an arm
or leg does not deny that this has occurred. Instead they acknowledge it,
compensate for it learn new techniques to cope with it.
Fantasy and escapism have their place in our lives, the dentist’s chair
comes to mind, but to live there day after day is not practical. Typically,
all parents face challenges and frustrations, even more so when they have
taken on the responsibility to home educate. I have lived this. I have
also lived a very busy life. In that light I have always attempted to visualize
my audience and what I see when I do is a busy person much like myself.
I write for the busy parent who wants practical answers to her very real
problems.
Other articles provided here will cover many topics and solutions to many
all too common frustrations that Moms and Dads consistently face. Home
schooling how-to techniques in academics and the arts will be frequent
addressed as will parenting skills and coping mechanisms. How to motivate
the children to get their work done and how to cultivate the crucial skill
of listening, learning and most importantly retaining what they have learned
will be covered. Because children, some more than others, live to test
boundaries and press your buttons and quite simply make every attempt to
get by with the least amount of cooperation and effort, we will cover tactics
that help to enlist their enthusiasm and interest. Along with articles
on general parenting there will be plenty on teaching history, spelling,
writing, reading and art appreciation to name a few. How to choose quality
books and other materials in a frugal manner will be addressed. At least
two other topics near and dear to my heart are these: The very important
power of habit and the sheer joy of nature study including the observation
and sketching of nearly everything that can be found outside of your home.
For now let’s look at it this way. Picture your mailbox. There are two
envelopes there that are not junk mail or bills. That’s a bit exciting
right there. It turns out you have received two invitations to attend two
different parties. One is printed on grey paper with black ink. Everything
about it is boring including the location, the theme and food. The other
invitation promises diversity. Even its layout and colors are interesting.
This party promises to be fun and promotes wonderful delicious food and
lively music. It appears to be an exciting and interesting time and now
you do not want to miss it. You even look forward to it as you mark the
date on your calendar. Now picture your children and ask yourself which
invitation to a home schooled education do they want to receive? There
is and always will be a boring way to present something and a far more
intriguing interesting way to do the same thing. That is one of your tasks.
Out with the boring; in with the love of learning. I believe reading the
articles here will help you to achieve that while using realistic, practical
methods that are successful and are within your reach financially and in
other respects.
Not too long after that meeting in the parking lot I also became the home
schooling mother of five children. This unforeseen possibility became my
lifestyle. It was to become one of the most meaningful choices I have made
in my life and has brought much fulfillment to me and my family. What happened
to the first home schooling mother I ever met? What was her drastic change
that she had no foreknowledge of? She died of a brain aneurism quickly
and without warning. She was very young and so was her family. Her husband
took sole responsibility to home school the children. She was not able
to mentor me or let me observe her teaching at home, she did not even recommend
a book to me. But she did have an impact on me. A quick meeting between
cars, my first home schooler, taken at an early age, has taught me this.
To value life even when it’s difficult. To continue raising my children
as best I can and not give up. To live each day to fullest, while still
allowing time for rest. To appreciate all of it. For that I have a lot
to thank her for.
Catherine Levison
Adapted from the “Realistic Charlotte Mason”
Column
Originally printed in The Link Homeschooling
Newspaper
Copyright 2006
